A transportation network for vehicles can include several interconnected main routes on which separate vehicles travel between locations. For example, a transportation network may be formed from interconnected railroad tracks with rail vehicles traveling along the tracks. The vehicles may travel according to schedules that dictate where and when the vehicles are to travel in the transportation network. The schedules may be coordinated with each other in order to arrange for certain vehicles to arrive at various locations in the transportation network at desired times and/or in a desired order. Each vehicle traveling through the network may also be controlled according to a pre-set plan for accomplishing a mission being performed by the vehicle.
For example, trains may travel along a network of tracks. Equipment may be used to manage the friction between the track and the wheels of the train to improve performance and efficiency. However, stand-alone devices suffer from a variety of drawbacks. For example, poor management of such devices, for example, results in reduced efficiency, waste of both fuel and friction management resources and resulting increased cost, as well as potentially unsafe or otherwise undesirable track conditions caused by inappropriate friction modification.
A need exists for improved control and management of friction modification for vehicle systems.